Chapter Text
He was a little boy who was full of life and cheer. He adored his own things and never cared about what others thought. He was Mackenzie Little, Mac for short. Back in kindergarten, he wasn't all so popular, but he still had a great friend in his life. He had wonderful parents who would always take care of him very well. Life was perfect.
"Dad, are we there yet?" Five year old Mac groans with a smile. He was on his way to school, his most favorite part of the day. His legs swing around in the car seat as he's looking out of the window, gazing at the falling, orange leaves.
"Well son," his father says with a grin. "If we were there, we wouldn't be driving!"
Mac's mother chuckles. She had a beautiful laugh. "Don't worry, Mac, we'll be there eventually." She grabs a camera and takes a picture of everyone in the car.
Mac gets excited when she says that he'll be at school soon. He couldn't wait to see his friends, his nice teachers, even the grumpy librarian lady. His most favorite part of school though was recess. He was one of the kids who was most active at the time and he loved it a lot.
Five minutes passed as they drove into the parking lot. "All right, squirt," Mac's father says as he stops the car. "You go have fun, you hear?"
Mac immediately grabs his backpack and throws it on his back as he's all prepared for another good day. "I will! I love you, Mom and Dad!"
"We love you too," they both chime together. They both smirk as Mac heads for the door and they begin to return home.
Mac opens the door and enters. All of the kids walk around in the hall preparing for another day of education and fun. He smiles big as he tries to look for his locker and his friend through the large crowd scattered around. Eventually, he finds his best friend putting things away in his locker. Mac slowly sneaks towards him and then pounces.
"Kayden," Mac happily shouts as his friend jumps.
"Mac! You scared me!" Kayden yells as he smiles and faces Mac. He's a good friend who is different from everyone else in the school, the main point being he's one of the few people who is African American, along with Mac who is also different, but not for the same reasons. They became friends after they were forced to sit at the same lunch table by a teacher last year in pre-k.
Mac giggles. "Hey, do you want to play boxing again today during recess?"
"Well yeah," Kayden cheers.
Mac smiles wider than usual. "Yay! I'm going to beat you again!"
They both smile while Kayden replies. "No! I will beat you this time!"
The bell then rings. All of the children run to their classrooms. "So," Kayden says, looking at Mac on the way to their class together. "I can't wait for recess with my best friend again!"
"Me neither, we will be the best boxers ever when we grow up! And best friends!" They both end the conversation with smiles of agreement. They both begin to run to class.
"Mac, Kayden, no running," the teacher chirps. She was a very nice lady though. They both liked her.
"Sorry," they both say in sync. They find their seats, which are next to each other, then listen close to the teacher.
"Good morning, kids!" Her brown eyes shine with happiness.
"Good morning, Ms. Hanes," all of the kids say as the two best friends say it louder than the whole class.
Ms. Hanes claps gently and her bubbly voice speaks. "Today we'll be doing some writing!"
The kids groan, including Mac and Kayden, surprisingly.
"What's the matter," the teacher asks, "I thought it would be fun making a short story about your dream Halloween day!" The month was October, and that meant Halloween was coming soon. Soon as tomorrow.
Kayden loved the holiday. Mac liked Christmas more, but he didn't want Kayden to feel alone, so they cheered together along with a few other kids.
"I knew some of you would like that," her happy smile and eyes shine equally bright. She gives everyone a piece of paper. "You only need at least one sentence, but I would love to see three sentences too! I would love to hear about your guys' plans for tomorrow!"
Everyone groans, but writes anyway. Mac looks at Kayden who is writing a whole paragraph in under two minutes. Mac smiles, loving to see his best friend when happy. It gives him motivation to write as well.
"When I go trick or treating tomorrow," a blonde-haired girl in pigtails reads in front of the whole class. "I will have a million candies! And I am going to eat them all. The end!" She smiles at the crowd as they all clap gently, barely amused.
"That's wonderful, Alice! We all love candy, don't we?" Ms. Hanes encourages. They all nod. "Now," she points her open hand at Kayden. "It's your turn!"
He immediately gets up out of his chair and walks to the front of the classroom. "When I go trick or treating," he smiles excitedly, "I want to be with my big brother and my best friend, Mac!" Mac lights up. "I want to dress up as a firefighter because they're cool! Anyways, my time with Mac and my big brother will be the best time of my life! They make me very happy... The end!"
Mac claps louder than the crowd and cheers. Mac liked the part when Kayden mentioned him and the fact that they both make each other happy.
Recess time started in the blink of an eye. A crowd forms around them as they warm up to play boxing in their own corners. The teachers knew they were playing pretend, they probably thought it was cute seeing two kids do the same activity every day and never get bored.
"Prepare to be defeated, Mac," Kayden laughs.
Mac punches his invisible gloves together and smirks. "I think you're talking to the wrong guy!"
"We'll see about that," Kayden deviously chuckles.
"Ready..." a kid announces. "Fight!"
A couple minutes of boxing each other went by. It was always close calls to actually hitting one another more day by day. After two rounds, Mac takes Kayden down, the pretend referee shouting "knock out!" Mac smiles as they clap gently. He then grabs his friend's hand to pull him off the ground. The children spread out to play their own games after the "fight."
"You're still the winner, Mac," Kayden grins.
Mac looks down and smiles.
"Mac, would you like to come to my house after school? I could show you my big brother!"
Mac looks back up into his eyes, continuing to have a smile on his face. "Sure!"
They both give each other a high five.
After school, Mac's mom and dad both agreed that he can visit Kayden at his place, so they tell Kayden to hop in while Mac is already climbing to his seat. They both liked to see them together as they have been each other's only best friend for a long time now.
During the car ride, Mac's mom and dad sang songs as they were on their way to drop them off.
"Hey Kayden," Mac says with joy. They both make eye contact. "What's your brother like?"
"Oh, you'll like him a lot, he is very nice" he says as his legs swing around above the floor. "He's going to be a big boxer someday! He always talks about it."
Mac smiles, satisfied with his answer. "That's cool," he says as his parents continue to sing and say that they love each other occasionally.
Once entering the door to Kayden's house, they were quickly greeted by a barking rottweiler. He's quite a loud fellow. "Kayden, you're back," a woman's voice rings from the living room. She gets up from the couch and walks to the front door. "Oh," she says, unexpectedly noticing Mac behind Kayden. "Is this Mac?"
"Yep," he says brightly. "My best friend!"
She smiles and brushes her wavy hair out of her eyes. She looks at Mac. "I hear a lot about you, Mac! It's so good to see you!"
Mac shyly smirks and waves, looking at the dog continuing to bark like a mad animal. "It's nice to meet you, miss."
"Mom, who's at the door?" A mysterious voice says from another room. Could that be the big brother? Mac always thought he was only a couple years older. He has a really deep voice for a seven year old.
"Just Kayden's friend," his mom replies.
"Mac?" His mom doesn't respond after one second, so he steps out of the room and faces the shy guest, the dog stops barking and sits next to the grown boy with his tongue sticking out.
Mac looks up at his face with round eyes. He is really tall for a seven year old as well... The very tall guy speaks again. "Hi, Mac! I'm Lucas!"
"Uhh," he whispers, then talks loud enough for him to hear. "Hi..." He still smiles in a friendly manner, but frightened at the sight.
Their mom tells them that he'll let them play now, and so she goes to the couch to watch television with a sweet smile along the way.
"Lucas," Kayden starts, looking upwards, "since you're nineteen and you are a good boxer, would you teach us more about boxing someday?"
"Nineteen?" Mac mumbles without them noticing. "Oh. That makes sense." His eyes start to relax.
"Yeah," Lucas answers. "How about some advice first?"
They both agreed and walked into Lucas's bedroom. They were taught to breathe during fights, when to attack, and more like it. Mac was having a great time learning. He was hoping this could help defeat Kayden during boxing faster.
"And finally, remember this," Lucas says, pointing at Mac and catching his full attention. "To be a winner is to practice being a winner." Mac doesn't get the quote since he's only five, but he proceeds to listen. "Every list of steps starts with learning how to do them."
"I don't get it," Mac blurts. Kayden looks over at him, looking like he wants to agree.
"You will when you start fighting," Lucas assures. "Now, I'll let you guys go. Remember what I said, okay?"
"I'll try," Mac whispers with a smile of hope.
Two hours passed as Mac and Kayden were playing video games, watching cartoons, and watching Diva Boxing with his mother in the living room. It shows that boxing wasn't Mac's idea of interest at first. Kayden introduced it and they liked the game ever since.
"Kick that opponent's butt," his mom says metaphorically as Mac's parents pulled up in the driveway.
"Oh man, I have to go home," Mac sighs.
"Aww, okay," Kayden frowns. "I had a lot of fun with you today!"
"I did too," he says as he grabs his backpack. "You will always be my best friend. Forever and ever!"
He waves goodbye to everyone and they wave back, his mom saying it was nice to meet him. The dog tries to leave with Mac, but they stop him. He whimpers watching Mac go.
"Hey, Mac, how was your day?" Mac's mom asks, playing with her long, black, silky hair.
Mac buckles himself into the carseat and replies happily. "I had fun! He will always be my best friend! We're going to be forever!"
"Aww," both of them respond.
"I'm really happy that you had a great time," his dad comments. "And I am highly sure that you boys will be buddies even when you're eighty years old!"
They both smile at each other and start going back home. Mac always wanted a friend like him; someone he could have fun with, someone who plays fun games with him, someone who can be a big inspiration to him. Kayden was perfect, and they never see a day where they'll leave each other.
Two weeks went by. Mac and Kayden never got to go trick or treating, but they both were still great friends in school. He spots Kayden at the lockers again, so he pounces once more. "Kayden!"
"Mac," he replies, unamused by it and has a frown on his face. Mac lets go of Kayden quickly and they face one another awkwardly. "We can't be friends anymore."
Mac stares in shock and confusion. "...Why?" He starts swaying side to side.
Kayden takes a deep breath, watching everyone walk past them. "I have to go back to Africa tomorrow."
"Africa?" Mac asks, more confused than ever. "Is your family from there or something?"
"No. They're not even my real family. They're my foster family."
"But... You look just like them..." Mac tries to encourage Kayden to stay using excuses and relations between him and his fake family.
"Yeah, that's because we're the same color of skin and hair." Kayden gets close to scolding Mac by the way he spoke. Mac looks shocked and takes a step back. Kayden relaxes and tries to be passive. "I'm sorry, Mac... You are my best friend... But I'll never be able to see you again."
Mac hated that sentence with a burning passion. He was going to be alone. No one to play with and no one to be his friend for life. His vision becomes blurry and his ears become hot. "No," he whispers. "I don't want to lose you."
Kayden starts to silently cry. "Lucas wanted me to tell you not to be sad that I'm leaving. He said something about being here in spirit..."
Mac still has no idea what Lucas talks about, so he ignores the words and responds with "okay." Kayden tries to give Mac a hug, but he pushes his arms away naturally. "Goodbye, Kayden." He looks at the floor and mopes away, starting to cry a lot.
He can hear Kayden punch the locker behind him, but looking back isn't what came to his mind. It was just walking away and forgetting about everything they did together.